


Stay with me, let's just breathe

by nbrook



Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Birthday, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:29:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26651437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nbrook/pseuds/nbrook
Summary: Things go sideways during Sander's birthday dinner. Luckily Robbe is there to kiss it better.
Relationships: Sander Driesen/Robbe IJzermans
Comments: 8
Kudos: 128





	Stay with me, let's just breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the title sucks but I'm gonna go crazy trying to come up with another one 
> 
> And it's Pearl Jam so it automatically makes everything better (:

Robbe is low-key proud of himself. First, he managed to buy all the ingredients he needed during his shopping trip without forgetting a single thing. Then, he arrived at the apartment with enough time to spare to prepare the meal despite his limited abilities in cooking, take a shower, graciously indulge Milan's need for interrogation and hugs, and not make a huge mess on top of it.

It's still light outside, even though it’s already a few minutes past 7. He loves it when days finally get longer in May, his mood lifting drastically when rainy days are few and far in between and the sun is already up when he gets up for school. The slightly orange glow falling in through the pane gives the kitchen a cozy vibe and Robbe suddenly remembers the candles he was supposed to buy.

So much for not forgetting anything.

"Fuck," he mutters to himself, quickly reaching for his phone and opening Messenger.

To: Zoë

_Do you want to become my favorite friend?_ 🙃🙃🙃

_What up_

_I desperately need candles_

_Aww you're so cute_ 😍

🙄

_Hihi_   
_There should be like 10 packs of tea candles in the drawer next to the fridge_

_Thanks!!!_

_Go charm your man_

✌🏻

He goes to dig through the drawer and after a bit of rummaging he finds what he's been looking for. He checks the time and notes that there is still a while before Sander shows up so he looks around the room critically trying to figure out what else is left to do. 

This evening needs to be special. They couldn't celebrate properly during the lockdown but once the restrictions were lifted Robbe decided that there is no way that they are going to just skip the whole thing, no matter how much his boyfriend pouted about it. And since Sander has been away for the last few days visiting his grandparents in Amsterdam Robbe had just enough time to come up with details.

Once the logistics had been worked out and Zoë and Milan had given the green light to borrowing him the flatshare he called Sander for their daily zoom talk and told him to get his schedule free for his birthday celebration on Friday.

Sander rolled his eyes trying to talk him out of it, insisting that it wasn't necessary but Robbe was having none of it and gleefully watched him squirm uncomfortably under attention. In the end, he sighed deeply as if he had been making Robbe a huge favor and agreed to grace the evening with his presence. He was quick to make him vow though that it wouldn't be anything big, just the two of them, because he had the intention to cash on those birthday kisses he had been promised.

The biggest challenge turned out to be finding a present for him. Ever since Sander's actual birthday Robbe was trying to come up with a perfect gift for him but it was fruitless. Corona had bought him some extra time but even that wasn’t enough. 

The brutal truth is that Robbe just really sucks at gift giving.

He wishes he were as talented as Sander, wishes he were able to blow him away with sketches and murals but unfortunately Robbe's art skills are not the best, to put it nicely. If he ever doubted that all his doubts were erased during one afternoon when they were chilling in his room and hit with a sudden inspiration he tried to draw Sander's face when the boy was lounging on the bed playing on his phone but his efforts were so pitiful that when Sander discovered the drawing he only teased him a little bit because he felt that sorry for his lack of artistic skills.

After that incident, his boyfriend made him promise that from then on he would be the only artist in their relationship which made Robbe pout and feel a bit embarrassed about his godawful creation. Sander made his pout disappear pretty quickly though, smiling that beautiful smile of his, listing all the things Robbe was good at, one by one, each one punctuated with a sweet kiss. He raved about his skateboarding tricks, about how smart he was, how kind and intuned with people's feelings, about how safe he was able to make him feel. When he mentioned his rapping skills Robbe gave him an unimpressed look and tried to call him out on his bullshit but Sander just ignored it and kept on going.

At one point he smiled mischievously and Robbe was dreading what was going to come next.

"Of course we cannot forget all your exceptional talents you showcased in this very bed," he grinned like a Cheshire cat, enjoying Robbe's embarrassed groans.

"Shut up," he whined, trying to hide his face in his pillow. Their relationship was still pretty new at that point and Robbe was not used to Sander’s straightforwardness.

His boyfriend lived for making him beet red though, in every possible way, so he just casually leaned against the headboard, the teasing mode full on as he continued his musings.

"But I’m totally serious, baby, when you do that thing with your tongue, the way you just swirl it so _effortlessly_ , you blow my mind every time,” he nibbled the hinge of his jaw, his voice turning deeper and raspier like he was getting affected by his own words, yet his lips betrayed that he was still smirking, “or, or the way you can just lick my nipples so well, _jesus_. Or the way you sink down on my-"

Robbe then tightly covered his mouth with his hand to stop him from saying anything else, the look on his face almost scandalized which made Sander burst into laughter although not before licking the palm shutting his mouth.

"Ugh, gross!"

"Not what you said last night."

So yeah. According to Sander’s very insightful evaluation, Robbe has many talents but unfortunately none of them are very helpful when trying to come up with a birthday present.

He thought about asking his friends for help but decided against it, too embarrassed to admit that he didn’t know his boyfriend enough to buy him something meaningful. And the thing is, Robbe likes to think he knows Sander pretty well. He is so easy to talk to and they have spent hours upon hours talking about various details from their lives during their lockdown chats but it seems like that knowledge wasn’t very helpful for that particular thing. He was getting more desperate with each day, hoping that some amazing idea would just come to him suddenly and that would be it. That always happened in the movies, right? So for sure it would happen to him?

It didn't.

Robbe felt like such a failure when two days before their date he decided to stop lying to himself and went out to the mall hoping for a spark of inspiration. But the inspiration didn’t come either and after hours of wandering from one store to another, his face sweaty from the mask, he ended up with a mug.

A fucking mug.

With Bowie lyrics on it but still. A mug.

He's already mentally prepared for the teasing he's gonna receive. He looks with disdain at the gift bag lying innocently on the countertop and rolls his eyes on himself again. He takes a mental note to start planning Sander’s Christmas present in the nearest future because he promised himself not to fuck up like this again. 

He grabs the offending bag along with the retrieved candles and goes to finish setting the table in Sander's room.

 _Sander's_ room.

God, it still feels weird to refer to Robbe’s old room this way. So many pivotal moments happened last year in that place, for both of them really.

Sander moving out of his family house wasn't the plan at first. But then Robbe moved back with his mom and suddenly both of them were living with their parents making staying the night awkward and sometimes downright embarrassing in the morning. Especially one morning in March which turned out to be the last straw for Sander who after being caught naked by Robbe's mom decided to look for an apartment immediately. Robbe still giggles at the thought of his boyfriend scrolling the ads intensely with a traumatized look on his face.

But then the lockdown happened and Sander's plans had to be postponed.

Lockdown also meant that the owner of Milan and Zoë's place struggled to find another occupant forcing him to lower the rent and Sander jumping on the opportunity right away.

Not that the price made much difference to him. Soon after the official start of their relationship Robbe learned that his boyfriend had a little more money than he had initially thought.

Or, much more.

Well. In hindsight, the pretentious art school, doc martens, vintage camera and the expensive ass hotel room Sander booked for them should have probably been a clue.

Robbe tried not to feel too insecure and awkward about it but the subject did eventually lead to some arguments between them. Or, like Sander preferred to call them, "heated conversations".

For Sander, spoiling his boyfriend on every opportunity was as obvious as breathing and he didn’t understand that it made Robbe uncomfortable.

When he explained to him that it felt like he was using him for money, Sander smirked at his pouting face and jokingly said that he liked the idea of being his sugar daddy. Robbe's killing glare quickly made him shut up though.

Having a new roommate made Milan ecstatic because Sander living with them meant Robbe would be a constant presence as well and he nearly bawled his eyes out when the boy moved back home in January. Spending Sander's birthday dinner at his place was the only logical option since all the restaurants still are closed and besides, Robbe's budget wouldn't allow for much anyway.

They are also going to have the whole place to themselves as Zoë was quick to declare to stay the night someplace else (which apparently happens a lot lately and no one knows what is up with that) and Milan winked at him and promised that he was going to make himself scarce for the night as well with a _don't you worry your pretty little head, Robbe, you and your boyfriend will be able to have all the loud birthday sex you want_. That made Robbe regret his decision for about five seconds after which he had to admit that Milan did have a point.

Back in Sander’s room Robbe lights the candles hoping they will survive at least until his boyfriend gets home. Candlelit dinner may not exactly be their style but that’s kind of the point. He wants this evening to be romantic and special.

The dinner seems to be almost ready, needing only a stir from time to time. He's not exactly a master in the kitchen but he has tried to make it at least a little more fancy than usual. Research was surprisingly quick because apparently there is an abundance of recipes for people with limited cooking skills online. As for the birthday cake, he knew from the start that there’s no point in lying to himself so he decided to ask his mom for help in that department, even though he knew it was gonna come with some good-natured teasing. The cake turned out amazing, at least judging by its appearance, so his mom’s smirking was the price he was willing to pay for it. He's sure at least the cake is gonna be a hit and maybe it will even buy him forgiveness for his piss poor gift. 

Unless, of course, Sander is going to throw that mug at him when he opens the bag. Not that it’s in his style but Robbe feels like it would actually be what he deserved.

He leans on the counter as he keeps stirring lazily, killing the time. Milan left a while ago and nobody's home but him so he turns up the volume on his phone to the max and changes the settings on his playlist to shuffle. When the next song starts his lips involuntarily stretch into a wide smile, something that he wouldn’t be able to stop when this particular song is playing. After only a few beats his hips start to sway and he's humming along to _Rebel Rebel_. 

He’s getting into the song more and more with each passing second and by second verse all his inhibitions are gone. Humming turns into singing, swaying into full on swinging his butt back and forth, and he has a half-thought of how embarrassed he would be if Sander found him like that but it quickly disappears as David Bowie starts on chorus nr 2.

"Well if this isn't a sight for my sore eyes."

He almost screams, jumping with surprise making the saucepan this close to landing on the floor. 

"FUCK! Do you want me to have a heart attack?!" 

“It breaks my heart to interrupt this impromptu show but I couldn’t take it anymore, you’re just so cute.” Sander is leaning casually on the doorframe, hands in pockets, and smiling cheekily at him. He looks _oh so good_ in his black skinny jeans going up, up, _up_ his long legs, the beige sweater that Robbe loves so much with sleeves rolled up revealing tanned skin, doc martens finishing up the image. His hair is in a disarray that should look messy but instead looks sexy as fuck. It’s longer now, the dark roots more prominent since Sander gave up on bleaching during the lockdown but it doesn’t make him look bad which honestly is just not fair. He’s staring at him with those sparkling eyes full of mirth and something akin to incredible fondness mixed with love and adoration.

Robbe almost whimpers at the image in front of him but he’s too busy wishing the ground would swallow him whole. As he squeezes his eyes tightly in shame feeling his ears burning hot along with what he’s sure is his entire face, Sander chuckles quietly and closes the distance between them, cups his cheeks and kisses him sweetly.

Robbe relaxes right away, the adrenaline dropping along with the embarrassment, making space for fuzzy feelings that always fill him out when Sander is so close. His body responding to his touch as if by magic. He locks his arms around his tanned neck, one hand finding its way to his long hair, fingers tangling in the strands and pulling just a little bit, the other scratching lightly at the smooth skin causing goosebumps to appear on the surface.

"Sorry, didn't want to scare you,” Sander murmurs into the kiss, his deep voice making Robbe feel things. “But I’m really proud, I taught you well,” he nods his head towards the music with smugness and Robbe shoves at his shoulder half-heartedly. Sander is having none of it and tightens his hold on him.

"I missed you this week," Robbe whispers as if he was sharing a secret, and when Sander brushes their noses together he feels himself swooning in his arms, knees going weak. It happens so often he’s not even surprised anymore. There’s just something about his touch that makes his body go haywire and Robbe secretly loves the feeling.

"Me too." His hands settle on Robbe’s hips, his beautiful green eyes a little bloodshot but otherwise bright and happy as they flicker over Robbe's face. He leans in and peppers featherlight kisses on the junction between his neck and shoulder and Robbe feels his eyes closing on their own, his hands sliding down Sander's back stopping at the hem of his sweater and letting his fingers graze the skin there. He feels him shiver and soon the boy abandons his neck and gets back to his lips, the previous sweetness forgotten as Robbe feels a hot tongue demanding access inside. 

"Sander, Sander, wait-"

"But I had to endure a whole week without kissing you," he whines, but pulls back reluctantly. 

Robbe laughs and tries to keep his resolve. "But our dinner is gonna burn if we keep going." He kisses his pouting mouth once more before turning around to check on the boiling pot. He stirs it a few times and feels Sander's arms wrapping around his waist when he takes a peek into the pot.

"Wow, you cooked it yourself?" he asks, sounding impressed.

"Yep." He can't keep a note of pride out of his voice. 

"Smells awesome, what is it?"

"Kind of a veggie stir? It's also supposed to go in that veggie wrap over there. I mean it's nothing super fancy but it has really good reviews and is supposed to taste amazing," he promises, worrying his lip between his teeth.

"Mmm, can't wait." Sander kisses his shoulder as if to soothe his concern. "My personal chef."

  
Robbe jabs him playfully in the side and Sander raises his arms with surrender, laughing. "What, I'm just admiring your cooking skills!"

"Maybe let's wait with that after we eat?"

Sander shrugs. "I'm sure it's gonna be great," he says grabbing the bag he left by the door. "Oh, and um- nice moves by the way," he winks exaggeratedly, tongue in cheek. "Can I count on a repeat performance later tonight?" The leer he gives him earns him a balled up paper bag thrown in the face. 

He dodges it with a laugh. “I’m serious! It was very sexy.”

Robbe very maturely sticks out his tongue at him and turns off the stove. "Wait! Don't go to your room yet!"

Sander looks at him questiongly, halting in the doorway. 

"I was thinking we could eat in your room in case Zoë or Milan come back." When Sander keeps looking at him expectantly he rolls his eyes and points at the wraps lying on the counter. "Can you take that with you while I grab the pot?"

They take their stuff and Robbe motions him towards his room. He walks in first and carefully puts away the hot pot on the pad. He turns around and takes the wraps from Sander's hand to put them on the table as well. When Sander doesn't move from the doorway and instead looks around the room with a small smile Robbe blushes and feels doubt creeping into him that he went a little too overboard with the candles. He scratches his head awkwardly glancing at him.

"You like it? Or is it too much?"

Sander finally looks at him and immediately tugs him closer to kiss him shortly. "You're so cute."

"Whatever," he replies bashfully, unable to suppress a smile. Sander kisses his temple but instead of stopping there he starts showering him with kisses all over his face. Robbe is laughing in the span of seconds, trying to twist away but to no avail. Sander is backing them towards the bed but suddenly he trips on Robbe's shoes lying around haphazardly and he lands on the floor, pulling Robbe with him.

"Ow."

"Aww, you good?"

"No, I think I'm gonna have a giant bruise on my butt." He says it so grumpily that Robbe can't help the giggle erupting from his chest. When Sander gives him a wounded look he ends up laughing even harder.

"Yeah, okay, laugh it up. I could have gotten hurt, you know?"

Robbe rolls his eyes.

"You're so rude,” Sander narrows his eyes, the look of feigned indignation on his face. “You have been rolling those pretty doe eyes on me ever since that first day in the supermarket. Don’t think I didn’t notice," he shakes his head in disapproval.

Robbe scoffs. "You deserved it! You were so cheesy and full of yourself, laughing at me for daring not to know Bowie's songs!"

"Pff, excuse me, I was very charming, and anyway, it got you here, didn't it? So what does it really say about you then, huh?"

"That I like cocky assholes, I guess," he replies, just to be a little shit, but he immediately leans down to alleviate the burn. Sander snorts and winds his arms around him and pulls them closer, the kiss becoming a little too heated for the spot they are currently lying in. When Robbe feels Sander's hands traveling down his back and squeezing his ass with intent, he pulls away with regret, smiling when he hears Sander letting out a small whine.

"We have to get up, otherwise this is gonna be very uncomfortable."

"This is the second time you're getting away from me tonight," he sulks.

"I make it up to you in a bit," he promises, laughing at the intrigued face his boyfriend makes.

"Hey, this is giving me interesting flashbacks," Sander exclaims suddenly and wiggles his brows while patting the floor around them. 

“Oh yeah, I think I remember something too,” he murmurs, a small smile playing on his lips as he occupies himself with trailing his hands along Sander’s chest. The boy nuzzles his neck and Robbe feels more than hears his words. 

“I remember how beautiful you were, blowing my mind from the very first time.” He leaves several sloppy kisses on the side of Robbe’s flaming hot neck. 

“Not the only thing that was blown that night,” he quips, feeling coy all of a sudden.

Sander gasps in feigned shock, his jaw dropping in a silly manner as he levels Robbe with a scandalized look. “ _Robbe_! You kiss your mother with that dirty mouth?”

Robbe groans and pushes at his face. “Gross!”

They start playfully pushing at each other, daring one another to surrender amongst screams of laughter and insults thrown left and right. Sander declares truce after a minute when Robbe accidentally pokes him in the eye. He makes sure to kiss it better though.

“Hey, you know what’s soon?” Sander asks, once they break apart, and looks at him with excitement.

“May 29th,” he replies without delay. Sander seems caught off guard, surprise painted on his face although he tries to mask it and Robbe feels a pang in his heart at the thought. “You honestly thought I wouldn’t remember?”

“Well… I mean, it’s not that big of a deal, I guess? It’s not a full year or anything,” he trails off, eyes looking at the floor, fingers twitching where they are holding Robbe’s waist.

“Sander.” It amazes Robbe how his boyfriend still didn’t catch up on how much he loves his grant gestures and extraness. How he still didn’t fully catch up on how Robbe loves him just as much if not more than he loves him. He knows Sander feels a bit unsure about it. “Of course I remember our six month anniversary, silly.” 

A small smile dimples Sander’s cheeks as he tries to act nonchalantly. “Cool, cool, just making sure.” 

Robbe decides to let it slide since it’s Sander’s birthday (kinda) and he lets him off the hook.

"Hey, how about we take this party off the floor, huh?"

Sander huffs a laugh and the tension is broken. Robbe can see that he’s still a little embarrassed about his flash of insecurity so he kisses his forehead before pulling on his arm to get him off the floor.

They sit on the pillows that Robbe arranged around the table and finally dig into the dinner that luckily is still hot, despite their shenanigans. He watches in anticipation as Sander takes the first bite, searching for a grimace on his face that would once and for all doom Robbe’s cooking skills. When there’s none and Sander actually groans in appreciation Robbe’s cheeks get a little pink. He tries it himself and is surprised it’s something he himself cooked. 

“Okay, from now on, you’re cooking for us, baby, this was so good!” Sander exclaims once he’s done.

Robbe positively glows. “Thank you.”

They share a glass of wine interrupted with a few kisses in between and then Robbe announces it’s time for the cake. He makes Sander wait in the bedroom while he quickly puts birthday candles on the cake and lights them up. He prays not to slip on his way back and thankfully he manages to transport it intact. Sander makes big eyes on the cake, looking excited like a little boy when he makes grabby hands on it. 

“Full disclosure, it was not made by me, my mom helped out with it, cause it was too much for me,” Robbe says in an apologetic tone and Sander gives him an exasperated look.

“You say that like you expect me to turn around and leave all butthurt, are you kidding, this is awesome,” he gets up off the floor and eyes the cake with anticipation.

Robbe adjusts one of the 19 candles that looks like it’s going to slip soon. Then he looks back at the face he adores so much and beams.

“Happy birthday, baby. I love you so much.”

Sander’s smile turns more gentle, private, his face going even softer. He reaches to brush a loose strand off of Robbe’s forehead, careful not to burn his arm on the candles. “I love you, too.”

“Well, get on with it,” he laughs. “Or I’m gonna drop it accidentally, all that fire is making me nervous. Make a wish!”

“Okay, okay,” he closes his eyes, pretending to be deep in thought in search of a wish. When he opens them again they settle right on Robbe’s brown eyes, his face more serious now. “I think I got it.” He takes a deep breath and blows all the candles in one go. Robbe whoops and places the cake on the table but Sander is quicker and swipes his finger through the cream layer smearing it on Robbe’s nose when the boy straightens up. He squawks swatting at his hand and when he sees him trying to do it again he narrows his eyes and points a threatening finger at him.

“Do it again and I’m telling my mom that you disrespected her cake!” 

Sander sticks his tongue at him. “Tattletale.” 

“Brat.”

“Baby.”

Robbe scoffs and decides to deliver the final blow. “ _Old man_.” He smiles cheekily crossing his arms in delight feeling like he won, but Sander looks at him unimpressed for a second and then snorts.

“Wow, that was so weak.”

“Wha-, no it was not!” 

Sander gives him a pitying look. “It really was, I’m actually embarrassed for you.”

“Someone really doesn’t want to get laid tonight.”

“Oh I’m getting laid tonight?”

“Not anymore you’re not.”

“Pff, please, as if you are able to resist this body.” Robbe kinda wants to kiss that lopsided smile off of his face.

“Wow, keep telling yourself that.”

“So sassy,” Sander tsk-tsks and drops to the floor, pulling Robbe with him, maneuvering him to sit on his lap and it makes Robbe’s breath catch in his throat. Sander manhandling him like this never fails to make him hot all over. Unfortunately, besides cake there’s still one more thing to do before they can finally continue. He gives him a light peck that feels like a truce to their banter and feels Sander’s hands caressing his thighs.

“So I’m thinking we can leave the cake for later but I still need to give you your birthday present,” he starts, already dreading it. 

“You know you didn’t have to get me anything, right? This evening with just the two of us would be totally enough for me, baby.”

Robbe winces. “Yeah…,” he reaches for the bag he left next to the bed and hesitates for a moment before giving it to him. “Look, before you open it, I’m so sorry, I tried to come up with something cool and meaningful and awesome but I just fucking couldn’t, and I’m so sorry.”

Sander laughs at his rambling and runs a hand through his hair to comfort him. “Okay I’m officially intrigued.”

He opens the bag and takes that offending mug out. Robbe immediately hides his face in his hands, but he can’t fight the urge to peek through his fingers and he sees that Sander is red in the face, trying very hard not to burst out laughing and not to hurt his feelings. 

"Please don’t leave me," he jokes weakly and that finally breaks Sander’s resolve. Seeing the absolute joy on his face makes Robbe’s lips quirk too and then he’s laughing just as hard, feeling the tension leaving his body. It’s ridiculous that he was actually afraid of Sander’s reaction.

“Oh my god I love you,” Sander wheezes, bumping their foreheads together.

“I promise I’ll do better for Christmas.”

“No, hey, I love this mug! I don’t have a Bowie mug yet.” He traces the lyrics with his finger and puts it away on the table, chuckling. Then Robbe feels his hands on the small of his back pulling him closer to him, not even a centimeter of distance between them. “You were worrying about how this would go, didn’t you?” Sander asks in a knowing voice, drawing small circles on his skin and making him quiver.

Robbe shrugs. “A little.”

“Mhm.” Judging by the look on his face he doesn’t quite believe him. “You know, the only thing I was expecting coming here was that abundance of kisses someone promised me a while ago,” he says, grazing his lips against Robbe’s, the tip of his tongue sliding out a little to give him a slow lick, and Robbe’s breath catches in his throat, a smirk blossoming on Sander’s face.

Robbe decides that he let him tease him enough tonight and crashes their lips together, Sander immediately catching on to the fact that slow has finally flown out the window. He doesn’t hesitate before plunging his tongue inside and Robbe swears he can almost feel it in his throat.

He feels every movement of his jaw under his fingers and he has a fleeting thought that he’s definitely gonna have a beard burn tomorrow, Sander’s barely there stubble scratching his chin and upper lip and he feels a shiver passing through his body, his back arching, because that is just so weirdly hot.

“You look so fucking hot tonight,” he gasps into the kiss what has been on his mind ever since Sander startled him in the kitchen. He decides that he wants him to lose control tonight, make him pant and moan and flush all over so he takes the charge and pushes at him slightly to get better access to his neck. Sander makes a surprised noise but doesn’t fight it, just lets him suck sloppily all over his collarbone, leaving small bites here and there, inducing breathy sighs out of him. 

Then he moves lower, hands dragging slowly down his chest, catching oh so accidentally on his nipples and when he peeks at him from under his lashes, Sander’s head is thrown back, eyes closed, jaw slack as he moistens his lips. He looks like he’s enjoying himself so Robbe ups the ante and smirking to himself lowers his mouth to where he knows his boyfriend wants it the most right now. 

When he starts gently sucking the nub through his sweater, Sander’s hand finds its way to his head and pulls at his hair, overwhelmed. It’s amazing how Robbe can always reduce him to whimpers with something as simple as touching his nipples. 

He rests his hands on his belt, swiftly opening it and warms his hands under his shirt when suddenly Sander pushes at him, bent in half and clutching his stomach. Robbe’s brain doesn’t register what’s happening at first, still dazed with their make out session.

When Sander lets out a groan that is definitely not pleasurable this time he comes back to reality. "What’s wrong?"

"Oh wow, I think my stomach does not like your cooking as much as I do,” he moans.

"What?" he asks stupidly, eyes roaming his features. "But I did everything right!"

Sander weakly strokes his back to placate him, and sits on the bed, still clutching at his stomach. "I'm sure you did. Um... what was in it exactly?"

Robbe tries to wrack his brain for the list of ingredients as he watches Sander’s face twist in pain. “All kinds of vegetables, like carrots and eggplant and zucchini, stuff like that?”

“Did you use any spices or something?”

“Yeah, like pepper, and a bit of paprika. Maybe it’s the wraps? Hold on, I still have the bag.”

He goes to grab the packet and quickly comes back to the bedroom, finding Sander curled up on the right side of the bed so he sits next to him with one leg curled up. 

The packet claims the product to be all natural so he looks at Sander with loss. “I don’t think it’s that. This is like gluten free, lactose free, basically everything-tasty-free. It’s made solely out of carrots, flax seeds, apples, onions, curry…”

Sander’s face falls. “Oh god.” He squeezes his eyes tightly. “Curry is my kryptonite.”

Robbe can feel his eyes going wide. “What? Are you allergic?”

“No, but I always have horrible stomach aches after curry that last for hours.” He pulls his knees even closer to his chin.

“Fuck, Sander, are you serious?” He scoots closer to him, eyes flying all over his face as he cups his clammy cheek. “Should we call a doctor? Or go to the ER or something?”

“No, I just have to wait it out.”

“What do you mean wait it out? And suffer like this? I’m sure there’s something we can do.” He reaches for his phone to do a quick research despite Sander’s weak protests.

“It says here that milk can help?” he reads.

Sander only shakes his head. “It won’t, I tried that once and it only made me feel worse.”

“Okay, how about-”

“Robbe,” he shakes his arm to grab his attention. “Stop, you’re not gonna find a magic solution there, seriously. Trust me, I’d know.”

The boy looks at him with desperation. “But you’re in pain.”

“It’s just hurts a little bit.”

Robbe lets out a humorless snort. “Oh yeah, I can clearly see that. Tell that to your face.”

“Hey, don’t get mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, I just can’t believe I fucked up so badly and now you’re gonna have to suffer during your birthday.”

Sander swallows and takes a shaky breath. “Come on, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.”

“I feel like I should,” he replies in a small voice and cups his cheek, brushing his thumb under his eye. There’s a ghost of a smile on his face but it’s quickly replaced with another wince. 

He looks so small, curled into a ball, his face a little sweaty and eyes closed tight.

Robbe doesn't know what to do with himself. He hates feeling so useless. He knows Sander is gonna be okay but the pain he's clearly in and the fact that he can't help him makes Robbe's own stomach roll. 

He feels so bad.

"Hey." Sander squeezes his thigh lightly, his lips pouting. "Please don't make that guilty face because it makes me feel even worse."

He rearranges himself and pulls on Robbe’s calf to make him sit up against the headboard and once he does, he puts his head in his lap. He looks like a little boy, his hair messy, face stripped from his usual cockiness. 

"Maybe I can like... rub your stomach or something?" Robbe proposes.

Sander peers at him from his half-lidded eyes, smirk dancing on his lips.

"That sounds very sexy but I'm afraid that after 5 seconds I would just puke all over you. And then it wouldn't be so sexy anymore."

Robbe groans. "Can you please stop making jokes about this?"

"Why? It makes me feel a little bit better," he shrugs. When Robbe continues to look at him unconvinced, he rolls his eyes. "Robbe, relax, I'm not dying. But you looking at me like a wounded puppy when I can't do anything about it kinda makes me wanna die."

Leave it to Sander to try to make _him_ feel better when he himself is the one rolling in pain.

He starts playing with his hair, wishing his hands would just take that pain away. "Are you sure you don't wanna try that milk thing?" he tries again.

"Ugh, no. I will _definitely_ puke then."

"Maybe that will be a good thing though."

Sander gives him an unamused look.

"I'm just saying! If you let it out you'll probably feel better."

"No," he replies petulantly. “I hate throwing up.”

Robbe sighs with resignation, running out of ideas. He rubs at his head with more intention, massaging his scalp to help him relax a bit.

"Oh yeah, that’s nice, you can keep doing that," he murmurs, moving his head with effort closer to his hand, like a cat demanding petting. Robbe smiles half-heartedly and indulges him.

"I'm sorry I ruined our night," he says a moment later as he burrows his nose in his hair and leaves there a kiss.

"It's okay I forgive you." Sander puckers his lips and sends him a kiss. "If you want a real one you have to come down here cause I'd rather not do any sudden movements right now," he snorts.

So he does, even though his neck is hating him for bending in such an unnatural way.

“Do you want to watch a movie, hmm? Maybe it will take your attention away from your stomach?” 

“I’d have to sit up a bit for that so… maybe later?”

“Sure baby, whatever you want.”

An hour passes with them lying like that, most of the candles burned out by that time. Sander tried to fall asleep to get through the worst of the pain unconscious but even Robbe’s skilled fingers in his hair weren’t enough to lull him to sleep.

He finally gives up, adjusts his position in his lap and looks at Robbe with tired eyes.

“Maybe talk to me?”

“Okay, what about?”

“I don’t know, figure something out. I like listening to your voice.” And that’s just so casually sweet that he can’t stop himself from pecking his lips again.

“What do you wanna know?”

Sander changes his position again, clearly trying to find a way to ease up the pain in his abdomen. “Hmm,” he ponders for a minute before his face lights up as if he just got an amazing idea. “Maybe tell me something embarrassing about yourself, it will distract me.”

Robbe snorts. “Wow, very clever. Uhh-”

“Oh, I know. Tell me who was your first crush,” he wiggles his brows, opening his eyes to look at him upside down in anticipation.

Robbe sighs and gives him a pointed look. When Sander keeps looking at him oblivious, he rolls his eyes. “You know who.”

The boy frowns still looking lost until finally his face lights up. “Oh my god, Jens was your first crush ever? Aww,” he coos at him, and he looks so cute Robbe doesn’t have it in him to shove him.

“Well I only had one crush in my life so there.”

Sander frowns and that adorable wrinkle between his eyes appears, the confused look paired with glassy sleepy eyes make him look so young. “What about me though?”

“You were never just a crush,” he admits, his voice sincere.

Sander doesn’t say anything and instead intertwines their fingers, bringing them to his mouth to kiss his knuckles. “Yeah, you neither.”

The moment doesn’t last long because he still doesn’t let up. “Then who is your celebrity crush? Gimme some tea, Robin,” he sticks out his bottom lip.

“Pff, no one,” Robbe replies a little too fast and unfortunately for him Sander notices.

“You’re lying! You’re so evil, lying to a sick person, you have no shame,” he shakes his head in disapprobation. “Well now I’m dying to know.”

“I’m not telling.”

“Is it me?”

“Yes, Sander, it’s you, because we both know you’re world’s number one celebrity.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a very popular artist in Antwerp. You might have seen my best work yet actually, a mural of the prettiest boy in the world.”

Robbe wishes Sander’s lines weren’t making him blush from head to toe every time but he can’t help it. He hides his face in his hands in exasperation, and Sander looks very pleased at his reaction.

“Is it Harry Styles?”

“What- no!”

“Why so insulted, he’s hot.”

Robbe scrunches his face in disagreement and Sander looks at him in disbelief. “Wow, the disrespect. But come on, tell me,” he whines.

“No.”

“Robbe, I am in so much pain.”

“Oh shut up you manipulative dork.”

“Pleeeeease.” 

A stronger man would break under the power of Sander’s begging eyes so he spills.

“It’s Timothee Chalamet.”

“Ooooh yeah, him too. Why would you not want to say that though-”

“And also Jensen Ackles, kinda?” he adds a bit quieter, making an innocent face.

Sander stares at him speechless and then his face breaks out in a grin as if Christmas came early.

“So it’s _you_ who has a daddy kink!”

“Shut up,” Robbe laughs at his joyful expression, and if the price for Sander’s forgetting for a moment about his pain means he’s gonna have to suffer through his teasing in the nearest future then so be it.

“You teased me so much about it and now we know why. That was just your sly tactic so I wouldn’t catch on.”

“He’s just hot, okay?”

“Yhm, sure, sure. I’ll remember that small detail though.”

Robbe’s shoulders slump in resignation. “So now you’re gonna tease me about it for weeks?”

“Not exactly what I had in mind,” he winks exaggeratedly. When Robbe doesn’t answer he turns on his side with a sly look in his eyes, glancing at his crotch. “Did it get you hot?”

“No, jesus, you’re sick, dude,” he laughs, pushing his face away and blushing a little.

“Hey, no violence, I’m sick here!” he protests.

Robbe scoots down so they lie side by side and pulls Sander back to him, the boy making himself comfortable on his chest, sighing in content. 

“Are you feeling better?” he asks hopefully.

“A little bit.”

“You know, tomorrow I want a list of all the things that make you sick or allergic. I don’t wanna fuck up again, okay?” 

Sander lifts his head and gives him a sweet kiss. “Okay.”

“And we’re gonna redo this evening tomorrow, maybe we could go for ice cream near the Scheldt? Then we will come back here and continue on what we started before you got sick, hmm?” 

He feels him nodding against his chest.

Robbe adds in a lower voice, “And we’ll do whatever you want.” 

Just like he expected that makes Sander lift his head again and consider him with a hopeful look. “Yeah?”

“Well yeah, that was kinda the plan for tonight,” he chuckles at his eagerness and nuzzles their noses together. When Sander closes his eyes he puts his mouth against his forehead leaving a small kiss there and then repeating the action on his nose and the small scar next to his eye that he loves so much. It always makes Sander give him his prettiest smile when he does that.

Once he makes sure to kiss that smile too he notices his droopy eyes. “Let’s go to sleep now, yeah? You look pretty tired, baby.”

“Okay,” he agrees without putting up any fight and burrows deeper into Robbe’s chest.

He gets up making Sander let out a disgruntled whine to blow out the two candles that somehow survived so long and quickly gets rid of his clothes. He then fumbles with Sander’s pants who is not helping, refusing to turn but then finally giving up and taking off the sweater himself before dropping back on the bed. As soon as Robbe lies down he has his arms full of Sander again and he looks at him fondly as he throws his leg on his hips effectively stopping him from leaving again.

“Hey, if you feel worse at night wake me up, okay?”

Sander hums and Robbe takes that as a yes. He grabs his phone and sees several messages from the boys so he scrolls through them and types back. He checks his instagram and wants to show Sander a funny post but when he looks at him he's fast asleep.

He puts the phone away and reaches slowly for the blanket to cover them both up. Reaching the light switch turns out to be more difficult as it requires more moving around but thankfully Sander doesn't wake up. After the room is enveloped in darkness, he makes himself comfortable on the mattress and kisses his hair one more time. Robbe looks at him for a minute, his features finally relaxed and not morphed with a grimace, his eyes fluttering under his eyelids. He looks so beautiful and Robbe feels a warm feeling in his chest. He loves him so much that sometimes he thinks it’s too big for his body. He finally closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep too. 

The last thing that goes through his mind is promising himself to throw away any speck of curry he finds in both the flatshare and his own house.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Full disclosure - I messed up the alignment of the kitchen in the flatshare. Oh well
> 
> 2\. I listened to Two Men in Love and Old Time Road around 50 times each while writing this and this is not an exaggeration lol
> 
> 3\. Hurting Sander is me, except I didn't have a Robbe to comfort me :( so unfair. Anyway, I'm not touching curry with a ten feet pole
> 
> 4\. Comments are 💛💞


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